Stanley Tumbler Hype

If your Facebook reels are anything like mine, they have been covered with the Stanley cup - teens excited to get one for Christmas, adult women showing off their collection of 20 or more, and most recently, people waiting in line for hours to get the newest Stanley x Starbucks collaboration tumbler. So what's the deal? Why all of the hype?

This water bottle is called the Stanley "Quencher" measures 1 foot tall, and holds 40 ounces of liquid. The Quencher retails for between $45 and $55, sports a handle for ease of transportation, and boasts a tapered design that allows it to slide into a car's cup holder. The cup has become a social media star, with some users calling it their "emotional support water bottle." The hashtag #StanleyCup has garnered over 6.8 billion views on TikTok. According to figures shared with CNBC, Stanley's annual sales for 2023 were projected to top $750 million.

How did Stanley get here? Stanley has been making products since 1913 and was most well-known in the beginning for its hammertone green vacuum sealed thermos-style cup used by blue collar workers to keep their lunch hot. Stanley started making the Quencher style tumbler in 2016 but had quit restocking and marketing the product in 2019. The Buy Guide cofounder Ashlee LeSueur purchased her first Quencher at a Bed, Bath and Beyond store in 2017. She fell in love with the product and began gifting it to friends and recommending it to her followers. In 2019, she tried to make a case for Stanley to continue production of the Quencher, but the sales numbers just weren't there. Stanley gave her another option: make a wholesale order to sell Quenchers directly to her Buy Guide audience. Those Quenchers sold out within days.

Then in 2020, Stanley hired Terence Reilly, who had spent the previous seven years at Crocs, as its new president. When Reilly took charge, he embraced The Buy Guide as partners, working with them to promote new and exciting colors like Desert Sage and Cream. "My experience at Crocs told me that that kind of influencer opportunity was just the magic that Stanley might need," he said. "And we were right. The Buy Guide proved to be amazing partners and helped us create the Quencher phenomenon."

Content creator Chelsea Espejo first learned about the Quencher in 2022. She now has a collection of 47 Quenchers. As a gym enthusiast, she credits the cup's large size for helping her stay hydrated throughout her workouts. The wide variety of color options certainly don't hurt either. "On the days that I do have extra time, I search for the specific [color] that matches my shirt," she told CNBC's Make It. "I wouldn't even say Stanleys are something I use. They're actually part of my personality. If I don't have it, if I don't choose the right color, my day kind of doesn't go how I planned it." This type of comment is exactly what Reilly was hoping for. "We see all the time that [our customer] wants her Quencher to match her fit, her nail polish, her car, her mood, her kitchen. We're serving her where she wants the product," he said.

Vincent Marcus, an influencer based in Los Angeles, was among the thousands who trekked to Target to get the limited edition winter pink tumbler for his 10-year-old daughter, who heard about the release on social media. "She and her friends are really realizing the hype," he said, noting his daughter had four cups already. "The desire to collect is only a recent thing."

The winter pink water bottle sold for $45 in stores. The cup has already hit resale sites, with prices ranging from $100 to $300.

The tumbler craze has brought on a new market as well: accessories for the Quencher. A quick search will lead to hundreds of options, ranging from carrying straps to small wallets, and even a snack tray. As with most trends, look for the Stanley Quencher water bottle to fall out of favor with influencers at some point. Some TikTok users are already predicting the next "it" water bottle will be from Owala.